An Affair with a Spare by Shana Galen

An Affair with a Spare by Shana Galen
The Survivors, Book 3
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Historical, Action/Adventure, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full length (416 pages)
Heat level: Spicy
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

He’s turned seduction into an art form…

Rafe Beaumont, fifth son of an earl, uses his irresistible charm with the ladies to glean dangerous war secrets. Now he’s putting those skills to the ultimate test: capturing an elusive assassin by seducing his daughter. The problem? She’s entirely immune to Rafe’s flattery.
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Never before has Collette Fortier met a man as attractive as Rafe. But her father’s life is at stake, and succumbing to Rafe would be disastrous. But when Rafe turns the tables on her, offering support and friendship instead of a fleeting affair, Collette finds herself tempted in ways she never could have imagined…

He’s supposed to use her, she uses him; he’s supposed to seduce her, she seduces him; he believes love is worthless and a lie until he realizes life isn’t worth living if he loses her and her love. How a practiced seducer of women, honed during a time of war to glean secrets, falls in love for the first time is an entertaining, exciting and not to miss read. Ms. Galen can claim another success with the 3rd book in The Survivors Series, An Affair with a Spare.

Collette, the heroine, is in a pickle. Whereas Rafe, the hero, does not deeply love anyone, Collette loves too much and will do what she must to set her father free, no matter what she has to do. She’s not savvy as a spy; she was protected from the harsh reality of her father’s role under Napoleon, but in this novel, she’s thrust into intrigue, danger and high-stakes without having anyone to trust. I thought her very brave.

Rafe has seen danger but only on the periphery. His fellow soldiers were hardened because of the violence and fighting they had to endure, whereas the hero saved their lives by getting the information they needed to stay safe. The one thing Rafe always wanted was to be more than just a seducer of women for their husbands’ and fathers’ war plans; he wanted to prove himself in actual fighting. Little did he know he was about to make up for lost time. Like the old saying goes, ‘be careful what you wish for.’

I liked the pace of the story, the details and the dialogue. I enjoyed watching the repartee between Rafe and his friends as well as meeting some very personable secondary characters the author introduced. I liked Rafe’s family and I think his step-mother is a very sweet lady. Even though this is the third book in the series, I strongly believe this novel would work as a standalone read because the entire focus is on Collette and Rafe. The additional characters are only mentioned in short scenes as backup and to propel the plot forward. It’s Rafe that needs to bluff his way out of trouble; it’s Collette who needs to figure out who to trust and who would wish her harm and the story focuses on them 99% of the time with both of their POV’s being represented. It all works.

I think the only character that should have had a sharper development was that of Lady Ravensgate. Since I truly believed she was evil, I wished the author could have colored her with a bit more of a malevolent personality than she was. I actually found it too tame. Yes, she served her purpose but I wanted to feel a stronger dislike for her character than I did. Does that make me twisted?

All in all, An Affair with a Spare is filled with all the elements that make a book a great read. It has a dramatic and romantic declaration of love, a grand gesture, a happy ever after I could believe in and an epilogue that sealed the deal. The sensual and sexy times between the two were well written and gave a good indication of how Rafe and Collette felt about each other and were delivered in just the right amounts. I heartily recommend this book to fans of Ms. Galen, both new and old.